Masters of the Queens Music at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse | by Bachtrack for classical music, opera, ballet and dance event reviews Masters of the Queens Music at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse **111 By David Fay , 28 October 2014 Judith Weir’s appointment as the first female Master of the Queens Music is an important moment in music history in Britain, and just cause for celebration. Female composers are still an overwhelming minority in classical music and having as subtle but strong a voice as Weir’s in this public position can only be a good thing. The benevolent members of the Park Lane Group – a charity which supports highly talented young musicians – evidently thought so too, deciding to put on a concert in Weir’s honour at the (still relatively new) Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. An admirable goal, but one that became less Weir-centred when music from the last six Masters was included on the programme. What was heralded as a celebration of Weir’s music became a celebration of the ceremonial position, and this diluted the interest of the event substantially.

The resulting miscellany of music, performed by an equally miscellaneous mix of musicians and requiring constant breaks for stage readjustment, was more like a school concert than a serious tribute to Weir’s work. Judith Weir © Chris Christodoulou | Chester Music That is not, however, to say that the quality of the performance was not high. The Trinity Laban Chamber Choir began proceedings with a little number by Walford Davies. Magdalen at Michael’s Gate was amusingly introduced and well directed by Stephen Jackson, the choir blending well and finding a good balance for the compact mock-Jacobean theatre, candlelit and still smelling of freshly-cut pine. Another Walford Davies partsong, setting words by A.A. Milne, was programmed, but had to be pulled as the parts didn’t arrive in time (sound familiar?). Next pianist Alissa Firsova played Arthur Bliss’s Masques, four virtuosic pieces whose predominant mood is ebullient and vibrant, although some contrast comes in the more reflective third, with its mid-range pentatonic ostinato.

Weir’s first work of the evening followed, a 10-minute-long ‘grand opera in three acts for unaccompanied solo soprano singing eight roles’. King Harald’s Saga tells the story of the ill-fated Norwegian King whose claim to (British) fame was his 1066 invasion’s providing a handy decoy for that of William of Normandy. It is an amusing, satisfyingly-crafted piece of theatre which demands substantial presence and vocal acrobatics of its performer. Jane Manning, for whom the piece was written in 1979, managed the latter admirably, but there was a fragility to her voice that slightly impinged her achieving the former. Her style is on the warbling side (which probably helped with the acrobatics a bit), but she performed the piece with the right amount of tongue-in-cheek wit and it went down very well. Tasmin Little and John Lenehan finished off the first half with those staples of the secondary school practice room corridor, Elgar’s Chansons de Matin et Nuit and Salut d’Amour.

Of course, the standard was far superior to anything heard in high school – especially for the Salut, which was done rare justice – but it was another bizarre programming choice (how are these vignettes related to Elgar’s position of Master of the King’s Music?). The inclusion of these pieces did little to dispel memories of the concerts put on by my adolescent self and my violin-playing peers. Apart from a forgettable viola and piano piece by Bax entitled Legend, things became more serious in the second half, with pieces by Weir bookending those by her direct predecessors Malcolm Williamson and Maxwell Davies. Blue-Green Hill is a recent three-part suite for chamber ensemble in which Weir weaves Scotch-influenced melodies into and out of patches of subtly complicated sonic texture. The Park Lane Ensemble brought out the mastery of the instrumental writing, in which Weir achieves a sort of timbral symbiosis, especially remarkable between the highly contrasting flute and piano sounds. If Blue-Green Hill provided the evening’s most refined composition, the finest performances followed. Joanna Skillet was brilliant in four songs from Williamson’s cycle From a Child’s Garden, her childish sparkle matched by Melanie Jones’ cheekily spiky piano accompaniment.

Of an utterly different excellence was Harry Cameron-Penny’s performance of Maxwell Davies’s Hymnos, which saw him do battle with pianist James Young in violent altercations alternating with more reflective sections. In both moods he showed staggering control over his instrument. After the Bax (which was done no favours coming after the Max) the Trinity Laban Choir returned to perform Weir’s Psalm 148. It’s a rather ceremonial work, including a trombone obbligato played by Vanessa Ritchie-Suarez, whose appearance on stage earned some whoops from the upper gallery. These, combined with the appearance of all performers and Weir on stage at the end of the concert, reinforced the school-like feel. Perhaps I appear scarred by these formative experiences, but I’m sure there must have been a more fitting way to celebrate Weir’s achievements – even despite her admirable emphasis, in her new role, on music education.

The Diamond Jubliee: Master of the Queen’s Music | Melanie Spanswick The Diamond Jubliee: Master of the Queen’s Music Posted on by The Classical Piano and Music Education Blog Photo courtesy of jewelrynewsnetwork.blogspot.com As the Diamond Jubilee of our Queen is upon us, I couldn’t let this wonderful occasion pass without a celebratory blog post. It’s no secret that Queen Elizabth II loves music and so today I am delving into one of the most illustrious music positions in the country: Master of the Queen’s Music. The post is roughly comparable to that of Poet Laureate . It is given to people eminent in the field of classical music ; they have almost always been composers ( George Frederick Anderson was one exception; he was a violinist who is not known to have ever composed any music). Duties are not clearly stated, though it is generally expected the holder of the post will write music to commemorate important royal events, such as coronations, birthdays, anniversaries, marriages and deaths, and to accompany other ceremonial occasions. The individual may also act as the Sovereign’s adviser in musical matters.

The first appointed Master of the King’s Musick was Nicholas Lanier for whom the title was created in 1626 by Charles I of England . At that time the holder of the post took charge of the monarch’s private band, a responsibility which continued until the band was dissolved in 1901. The Master received an emolument. At the time of George III it was £200 a year for leading the band and composing birthday odes. If minuets were composed for court dances, an additional £100 was added. Additional payments were made for any music copying done for the court. Two of the early Masters, Louis Grabu and Nicholas Staggins , were more courtiers than musicians, and composers such as Henry Purcell were called on for the music such as Purcell’s ‘Welcome Song to His Majesty at His Return from Newmarket’ (1682). During the reign of composer John Eccles as Master of the King’s Musick, George Frideric Handel supplied the Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713).

In 1924 with the appointment of Edward Elgar , often considered the greatest British composer of his generation, the position became akin to that of Music Laureate. The title might now be given to composers or academics of proved attainment, signifying an endorsement of national achievements. Most of Elgar’s “royal music” was behind him by then – the Imperial March (1897), the first four Pomp and Circumstance Marches (1901–1907) and the Coronation Ode (1901). The Pageant of Empire was performed a few weeks after he was appointed Master, although composed before the appointment. He did compose the fifth Pomp and Circumstance March (1930) and the Nursery Suite in 1931 dedicated to “their Royal Highnesses Princess Elizabeth and Margaret Rose “. Elgar’s successor, Sir Walford Davies , a popular broadcaster, was the first Master of the King’s Music to be well known to the public by this title.

Other composers who have enjoyed the much coveted title include: William Boyce (1755-1760), John Stanley (1779-1786), Sir Arnold Bax (1942-1952), Sir Arthur Bliss (1953-1975), and Malcolm Williamson (1975-2003). The longest-serving Master of the King’s Music was John Eccles , who served for 35 years, from 1700 until his death in 1735. He is also the only one to have served four monarchs (King William III, Queen Anne, King George I and King George II). Three monarchs have had four different Masters during their reign: King George III, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. The monarchs who had the same Master of the King’s Music throughout their reign were: King Charles I ( Nicholas Lanier ), King James II ( Nicholas Staggins ), Queen Anne and King George I (John Eccles), King Edward VII (Sir Walter Parratt ) and King Edward VIII (Sir Walford Davies ).

The current Master of the Queen’s Music is Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (1934 -), who was appointed in March 2004 for a ten-year period, unlike previous appointments, which were for life. Since his appointment, Sir Peter has composed a Christmas carol for The Queen which was recorded by the Chapels Royal, as well as a work to accompany the Poet Laureate’s poem to mark The Queen’s 80th birthday in 2006. He has also been greatly involved in the creation of The Queen’s Medal for Music in 2005, which will reward individuals who have made a significant contribution to the community at large, though music. Join me soon for more about Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Meanwhile enjoy all the Diamond Jubliee celebrations! Sir Peter Maxwell Davies became Master of the Queen’s Music in 2004 Photo courtesy of BBC Website Share this: Modern music and the tale of two Ms | The Independent Features Modern music and the tale of two Ms Malcolm Williamson (70 next week) and Malcolm Arnold (now 80) stood apart from their contemporaries, yet as composers they couldn't be more different.

Both have made outstanding contributions to music, says Bayan Northcott, who believes proper recognition is long overdue Saturday 17 November 2001 00:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Culture In October 1975, Sir William Walton wrote consolingly to his younger friend Malcolm Arnold: "I, too, am disappointed that the wrong Malcolm should have been chosen as the new M of Q's M. I did my best, but nowadays cementing the cracks in the Commonwealth obviously takes precedence – for all I know, it may be a good appointment." If the palace was, indeed, thinking "wider still and wider" in its search for a new Master of the Queen's Music to succeed Sir Arthur Bliss, then Malcolm Williamson's Australian citizenship was doubtless a plus, though it would seem that, behind the scenes and contra Walton, Britten also put in a word for him. Yet the salient question was why, at a time when such established figures as Tippett and Lennox Berkeley, Rubbra and Robert Simpson were still vigorously active, the two Malcolms should be deemed the clear front-runners.

Was it simply a recognition of their exceptional versatility, or a more specific reckoning that, unlike some of the others, they could be relied upon to come up with the kind of festive vulgarity beloved of that old, old British Establishment? Though born a decade apart and on opposite sides of the world, Arnold and Williamson did seem to share certain characteristics that distinguished them among their contemporaries. Both were outstandingly gifted as executants: Arnold as a precocious orchestral trumpeter, and later conductor; Williamson as a virtuoso concert pianist and organist. Both proved hugely, if unevenly, fertile as composers, refusing, rather exceptionally in a still-Modernist era, to submit their creative impetus to any restrictions of musical ideology, style or taste, whatever. And both, for public or private reasons, evolved from dazzling early promise into somewhat embattled middle years, blighted by critical cold-shouldering and personal turmoil. Admittedly, certain of Arnold's more rumbustious scores, such as his sets of English Dances, always held their own in the lighter repertoire, while recordings of his more serious output have proliferated in recent years.

Yet the extensive celebrations surrounding his recent 80th birthday on 21 October still came with an air of reparation to a long underrated master. As for the scant discography and modesty of events marking Williamson's forthcoming 70th on 21 November, these only go to show how his output and reputation continue to languish. But then, behind their comparable gifts for memorable populist melody, it would be hard to think of two creative personalities more fundamentally distinct. Arnold was hailed at the outset as a "natural", totally immersed in music, for whom all other beliefs and interests were ultimately subsumed in the notes themselves. And a merest glance at his catalogue shows its vast predominance of instrumental forms: nine symphonies and 22 concertante works ("Arnold is the master of the 15-minute concerto," Paul Driver has written), plus a mass of smaller orchestral, ensemble, chamber and instrumental works (to say nothing of his 100-odd, mostly orchestral film scores).

Beyond a handful of songs and cantatas, the idea of music serving something else – a text or a belief – seems to have interested him only in passing; there is little for the opera house, still less for the church. While no less instinctive in his musicality, Williamson, by contrast, has pursued an almost bewildering variety of other interests, often at a high level of expertise; literature and languages, theatre and visual art, philosophy and psychology, and, not least, the complex ramifications of his religious faith. His musical personality seems correspondingly harder to grasp as a whole. It is not just that his extra-musical interests and beliefs have fed into a substantial output for the musical theatre and a vast catalogue of sacred music, but that these, together with his many song-cycles, concertos, organ works and so on, show such a diversity of format and style. Where Arnold's symphonies unfold as a kind of diary of his musical development, Williamson's eight to date seem more like a series of striking one-offs.

The contrast already between the hieratic, Stravinskian manner of his First (1957) and the luxuriant, rainforest textures of his Second (1968) could hardly sound wider. But perhaps the basic difference between the two lies in their approach to musical continuity. The sources of Arnold's style were evident relatively early, and despite some dabbling in 12-tonery, have not greatly expanded since: classical form-schemes, procedures out of Sibelius and Walton, idioms from British film and light music of the 1940s, touches of folk-song, military marches and jazz. What has developed over the years is his tendency to juxtapose such contrasting elements ever more starkly within the bounds of single pieces, in what seems to have been a prolonged struggle with his own complex psychology. As the recent celebrations reminded us, Arnold's ebullience and lyricism have rarely come unalloyed, and his increasingly cryptic procedures can prove surprisingly difficult to follow, while the extreme clashes of sentimentality and horror in later symphonies such as the Seventh (1973) suggest tensions on the edge of disintegration.

Though Williamson seems to have shared with Arnold a penchant for Caribbean rhythms, the more popular traits in his music have stemmed rather from cabaret, the musical and the kind of pop church music favoured in the 1960s. But these have also had to contend with a far richer range of "serious" sources, all the way from medieval polyphony to Boulez-style serialism, with strong infusions of Stravinskian neo-classicism and Messiaenic modality. By contrast with Arnold's disruptive risk-taking, Williamson's overriding drive has always been to unify his disparate materials as strongly as possible; an aim he has often achieved by elaborately interlocking cyclical and ostinato devices. Not that these have at all limited his expressive range. The second movement of his predominantly insouciant and celebratory Third Piano Concerto (l962), for instance, opens as a gently tripping moto perpetuo; by the end, its obsessive repetitions have acquired an almost unbearable menace.

Fuelled by alcoholism, Arnold's personal crisis came to a head around 1980, and much of the music he composed after his recovery has a simplified, even ghostly quality, culminating in the 20-minute slow finale of his Ninth Symphony (1986), with its page after page of starved textures and numbed solo lines – tensions not so much resolved as exhausted. It is over a decade since he published his last new score, but at least enough of his output is now readily available and widely performed to make for a juster estimate of his complex creative character and achievement: an English Shostakovich, perhaps, if without the politics. Williamson, by contrast, remains astonishingly neglected for a figure of such creative individuality, substance and skill. Part of the problem is that his copious output since the early 1980s (including a whole string of pieces fulfilling his obligations to the Royals), has gone unpromoted by any major publisher. Nor has he always helped his own cause by his outspoken public remarks on the musical scene or fellow composers.

Yet scattered through his vast and various catalogue, if performers and listeners only had more determination or opportunity to sort through it, are works to match the very best from his contemporaries. Why, then, have none of our major companies mounted any of his operas for decades? Why are none of the London orchestras this season offering a note of his music? At least the BBC Concert Orchestra under Christopher Austin has recorded a concert, including the Third Piano Concerto, for birthday broadcast, and the Wigmore Hall is mounting an evening of chamber music and song. It's a start. But there is, oh, so much more... Malcolm Williamson 70th Birthday Concert, 21 Nov, Wigmore Hall, London W1 (020-7935 2141) June | 2012 | Melanie Spanswick Melanie Spanswick Classical Pianist, Teacher, Writer and Composer Search 2 Painting by Ron Hedrick I have been enjoying piano duets over the past week; both four hands at one piano and works for two pianos. Piano duos can take two forms. Two pianists at one piano being the most popular i.e.

the first player, or primo part, plays at the high pitched side of the instrument or the right side of the piano keyboard and the second player, or secondo part, plays at the low pitched side or left side of the keyboard. The second form allows each pianist to have their own instrument therefore it is a two piano combination. There are many great works written for both genres. Works have also been composed for three pianos (Mozart wrote a concerto for three pianos) and multiple pianos too (Steve Reich is a good example – he loved utilizing a huge piano sound using multiple keyboards). Duets can be a wonderful way to play music with a friend or a sociable way to improve your sight reading. They also allow pianists to get to know each other musically too making piano playing less solitary. If you are learning the piano and fancy exploring the four hand repertoire there are many publications available featuring graded duet selections. Some composers have written original pieces for varying levels of players too – from beginners to more advanced students.

When I was studying at the RCM, my professor ran weekly sight reading classes enabling groups of six pianists to gather together and galop through various symphonies or opera overtures at three pianos (two pianists at each piano). It was such fun and not only did our sight reading improve considerably but we all got to know many orchestral works too. There is something very satisfying and sensuous about the rich timbre of several pianos reaching fortissimo in unison. Performing duet concerts is another matter entirely. I worked with another pianist for a few years and we regularly gave two piano and duet recitals. Ensemble can be tricky when two pianists play together and it does need lots of rehearsal but the rewards are great. There is a substantial repertoire and many composers have made a feature of writing for piano duos. Included in this group are Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Dvorak, Debussy, Ravel, Faure, Bizet, Rachmaninov, Bartok, and Shostakovich. There are also many fabulous arrangements of famous orchestral works for four hands too.

Here’s a couple of favourite duets and two piano works including Schubert’s beautiful Fantasy in F minor D.940 – do hope you enjoy them! You can purchase my book, So You Want To Play The Piano? , which is packed with practice tips and useful information, here . Share this: Reply My blog post today continues the series examining British female pianists and teachers. The lady in the spotlight last week was Mathilde Verne and this week her sister, Adela is receiving the star treatment! Adela Verne was born in 1877 and was an important English pianist and composer of German descent. She was considered one of the foremost female pianists of her generation and she frequently toured the world playing in all the major concert halls. Adela was born into a very musical family (she had nine siblings altogether) and three of her sisters were also notable pianists or composers: Mathilde, Alice and Mary (Mathilde and Alice (like Adela) adopted the surname Verne, whereas Mary kept the family’s original surname, Wurm).

Clara Schumann heard Adela play when she was a small girl and was so impressed that she wanted to take her to Frankfurt for study, as she had done with Mathilde, however her parents would not permit this. Instead, she was instructed by Mathilde and Alice, and later by Clara Schumann’s daughter Marie Schumann. At age 13 she made her debut with Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No.1 in B flat minor, conducted by Sir August Manns at the Crystal Palace concerts series. Tchaikovsky himself heard of this astonishing young prodigy and wanted to meet her. The following year she was introduced to Ignacy Jan Paderewski. He was so impressed with her playing that he predicted a great future for her and subsequently taught her at his home in Switzerland. Adela Verne was hailed as the successor to Teresa Carreño, and was equally praised by North and South American, Australian, European and British audiences and critics. In Vienna, after hearing her play four concertos in one evening, Theodor Leschetizky gave her the rare honour of asking her to give a recital to his own pupils.

Her wide repertoire included a large amount from the 18th and 19th centuries, but also much from the 20th century. She often appeared in chamber music recitals at the St James’s Hall concerts, alongside artists such as the violinist Joseph Joachim and the cellist Alfredo Piatti. She toured Australia with Dame Nellie Melba, and was associated with other singers such as Luisa Tetrazzini, Amelita Galli-Curci and John McCormack, and violinists such as Mischa Elman, Eugène Ysaÿe amongst others. She appeared regularly at the Proms, and was the first British artist to give a solo recital at the Royal Albert Hall. Adela was the first woman in England to play the Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto in B flat major; it had previously been considered too demanding for women!

She gave the first performance of the Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1 (B flat minor) in Australia, the first performance in the United Kingdom of César Franck’s Symphonic Variations and the first television performance of Mozart’s Concerto for 2 Pianos, with her son John Vallier, also a noted pianist and composer. In 1952 she broadcast a special programme of works by Paderewski for the BBC and her last public appearance was at the special Jubilee Concerts celebrating the Wigmore Hall. She was preparing for her first recital at London’s new Royal Festival Hall, when she died, on 5 February 1952, aged 74. She also composed a variety of works, including a Military March dedicated to Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother; her sister Mathilde’s pupil). Main Source: Wikipedia Reply Brigitte Engerer Photo: AFP/GETTY The wonderful French pianist Brigitte Engerer sadly died a few days ago (on 23rd June) of cancer. She was just 59. I loved Engerer’s playing and had long been an admirer of her work.

She was born in Tunis and was of Maltese descent. Having started playing the piano at the tender age of five, she entered the Paris Conservatoire in the class of Lucette Descaves. She obtained in 1968, aged 15, a first prize in piano, the first named unanimously. In 1969, she won the Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud , following which she was invited to undertake further training at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory where she joined the class of Stanislav Neuhaus whom she studied with for nine years. In 1980 Brigitte’s career took a decisive turn when Herbert von Karajan invited her to play with the Berlin Philharmonic. Her subsequent career was divided between giving recitals and teaching at the Paris Conservatoire. She particularly enjoyed playing chamber music especially duets and two piano works. I love the second YouTube clip I have selected below, where she partners Boris Berezovsky in a breathtaking performance of the fabulous Reminiscences de Don Juan ”Ci Daren la Mano” from Mozart’s opera by Liszt for two pianos.

Share this: Reply Last night at the Royal Albert Hall, Ukrainian pianist, Valentina Lisitsa (pictured above from my seat!), was given her chance to wow the London crowds. Did she succeed? You can read my review here . I am sure you will know by now, if you have been reading my blog (and no doubt those of many other bloggers too), that Lisitsa has been labelled a YouTube sensation. She famously set up her own channel in 2007 and has received more than 44 million hits through her own self promotion. After landing a deal with Decca, she has how been given the opportunity to perform on the world’s major stages. Here is La Campanella by Liszt which was one of Valentina’s encores at the RAH. Enjoy! Share this: 5 Today’s blog continues my series exploring British female pianists and teachers. Mathilde Verne was born in 1865 and was an English pianist and teacher of German descentBorn Mathilde Wurm in Southampton, England, the fourth of ten children, all of whom were musically gifted.

She was initially a student of Franklin Taylor and was then given the opportunity to play to Clara Schumann, who took her to Frankfurt for further study. Clara also entrusted the musical tuition of her own granddaughter, Julie Schumann, and many other pupils, to Mathilde Verne such was her prowess as a teacher. Mathilde made her debut in St James’s Hall in London, playing a Mendelssohn piano trio. She taught briefly at the Royal College of Music, and later made regular appearances under Henry Wood at the Queen’s Hall Promenade Concerts from 1903 to 1907. She frequently appeared as soloist under conductors such as Arthur Nikisch, Hans Richter, Sir August Manns and Sir Henry J. Wood, and twice visited the United States, working with Theodore Thomas. She was renowned for her authentic playing of the works of Robert Schumann and in London, became strongly associated with the “Tuesday 12 O’Clock Concerts” of chamber music from 1907 to 1936.

In 1909 the Mathilde Verne School of Pianoforte Playing opened at 194 Cromwell Road, South Kensington, and quickly gained attention with its student performances. Pupils flocked from around the world to study at the school. Her pupils, aside from her sister, Adela, and her nephew, John Vallier, included Solomon whom she discovered and managed from 1910-1915; Dame Moura Lympany, Harold Samuel, Herbert Menges and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (the future Queen Elizabeth, HM The Queen Mother). Mathilde Verne has been ranked as one of Europe’s greatest music teachers, along with Theodor Leschetizky, Ferruccio Busoni, Isidor Philipp and Tobias Matthay. Another sister, Alice Verne was also a piano teacher and composer. Mathilde Verne died in London in 1936, aged 71. The novel “Madame Sousatzka” by Bernice Rubens (1962), made into a film in 1988 is partly based on Mathilde Verne’s career Main Source: Wikipedia 7 I have already written several blog posts about the healing powers of music.

It’s interesting just how many times music is used for healing purposes; from relaxation to recovering from cancer. According to science, music can have a powerful effect on repairing brain damage. Patients with left-side brain damage who can no longer speak can find they are able to sing words, often without trouble or training. Melodic intonation therapy , or singing until you can talk, takes advantage of the fact that language functions are located in the left brain, but music lives over on the right side of the brain. When a stroke or brain damage occurs, damaging or stopping speech, the brain can be trained to move those functions to the other side by associating music with language. This essentially rewires a lifetime of growth. Listening to music (particularly classical music) has an additional effect, since pleasurable music releases dopamine that simply makes certain parts of your brain function better (particularly if they were damaged before). In a nutshell, music gives your brain a massage and fills it with happy chemicals. Arizona Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords’ story also highlights the potential of this fairly new field of medicine. Giffords was shot in the head last year by a deranged gunman near Tucson, Arizona.

Among the devastating consequences of her brain injury from the gunshot wound, Giffords lost the ability to talk. But with help from music-based therapy, she has rediscovered her voice and, it seems, her spirit. As early as the post-World War II era, physical therapists noticed that Big Band music helped wounded veterans get up and learn to walk again. Since then, researchers have documented a consistent pattern. When given a rhythm to walk to, people with Parkinson’s disease, strokes and other forms of neurological damage are able to regain a symmetrical stride and a sense of balance. Each beat serves as an auditory cue that the brain uses to anticipate timing and regulate footfalls. For Giffords, therapy started with songs like ‘Happy Birthday,’ said Maegan Morrow, the Congresswoman’s music therapist at TIRR Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital in Houston. Giffords would simply sing one or two syllables to start with ie. the word “you” after Morrow sang, “Happy Birthday to…” Over time, Giffords learned to repeat ordinary phrases in a sing-songy voice. A song would over time become a rhyme and then a chant and finally a spoken phrase with the natural rhythm of speech.

For Giffords, who spent months in the hospital and has faced a long haul toward recovery, music may have primed her to do the hard work she needed to do, Morrow said. The Congresswoman came in with a great love for all kinds of music, she added, from show tunes to pop rock, which probably helped her progress and she relearned how to talk and walk. “Music is an automatic motivator,” Morrow said. “It is the easiest way to get you in a good mood, to bring you out of the situation you’re in and bring you to a new place.” This story illustrates just how important music therapy can be for victims of brain damage. There are many other wonderful benefits from music’s healing powers too which I will be exploring soon. Gabrielle Giffords undergoing music therapy as part of her recovery. Photo courtesy of ABC news. 3 A very interesting new study has revealed that music can help slow down the ageing process. Think this sounds too good to be true? then read on…. Researchers in the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University in the US, measured the automatic brain responses of younger and older musicians and nonmusicians to speech sounds.

They discovered that older musicians had a distinct neural timing advantage and concluded that age-related delays in neural timing are not inevitable and can be avoided or delayed with musical training. Neuroscientist Nina Kraus commented “The older musicians not only outperformed their older nonmusician counterparts, but they encoded the sound stimuli as quickly and accurately as the younger nonmusicians”. “This reinforces the idea that how we actively experience sound over the course of our lives has a profound effect on how our nervous system functions.” The data suggests that intensive training even late in life could improve speech processing in older adults and improve their ability to communicate in complex, noisy acoustic environments. Don Caspary, a researcher on age-related hearing loss at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine says “They support the idea that the brain can be trained to overcome, in part, some age-related hearing loss”. Previous studies from Kraus’ Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory suggest that musical training also offsets losses in memory and difficulties hearing speech in noise — two common complaints of older adults. The lab has been extensively studying the effects of musical experience on brain plasticity across the life span in normal and clinical populations, and in educational settings. What great news.

Music can have so many positive influences on our general well being and I am going to examine a few of the most common ways that it can heal us both physically and mentally in future blog posts. It really can have a huge impact on our lives. You don’t always have to play an instrument either, often listening or meditating to music can be very beneficial too. So let’s start reversing that ageing process now with this beautiful reflective performance: You can purchase my book, So You Want To Play The Piano? , which is packed with practice tips and useful information, here . Share this: 5 With the holiday period fast approaching many students will soon be taking music exams. Preparing for a music exam is so important and by ‘preparing’ I am not referring to the amount of practice required to pass exams. This goes without saying and is expected of all candidates; a considerable amount of practice is needed to achieve satisfactory marks. Once you have prepared thoroughly for your exam the real ‘practice’ begins; performance practice. It is too easy to go to your lessons every week and play your pieces and scales plus aural and sight reading, and think that you are now really ready for your exam.

The problem with this is that you will turn up for the exam totally unprepared for the (often) huge inconvenience called nerves or performance anxiety. If you have never suffered from nerves or ‘stage fright’ before then this can come as quite a shock. You may be a super -confident type who is largely unaffected by these feelings but the overwhelming majority of candidates experience some of the following: heart palpitations, sweaty hands, memory muddle/loss or (my favourite) trembling legs and feet – exacerbated by high heels!! Don’t worry, this is all completely normal and there are many ways of dealing with these feelings. Your teacher may be instrumental in helping you deal with nerves however, you still may need to practice performing in addition to your lessons. The main issue to deal with when experiencing any kind of performance related stress is to learn how to control your mind. Once you have achieved this you will be able to focus fully on the music you are playing and not on what your audience is thinking. Here are a few brief tips: 1. Thorough preparation is essential as I have mentioned above – it helps counteract the self doubt that so often creeps into the mind especially when ever higher standards are expected. 2.

Try to have a realistic approach to your performance. Perfectionist attitudes don’t really help. At the end of the day you just have to be satisfied with doing your best. 3. Pay attention to your posture and make sure your breathing is helping you stay calm and relaxed. Some find it helpful to do breath control exercises such as Alexander or Dalcroze techniques. 4. Acknowledgement of problems and the determination to perform, in spite of these, appears to be paramount. Learning to perform well inspite of trembling hands for example. 5. I find positive imagery to be most helpful. Thinking of images that project musical and technical skills and competence in a positive way can often tame the ‘negative voice’. The ‘I can’ mantra can help overcome all kinds of self doubt. If you can implement some of the ideas and suggestions above then you will be well on your way to a distinction in your forthcoming exam. Don’t think you can achieve such a high mark?………oh yes you can! Good luck. You can purchase a copy of my book, So You Want To Play The Piano? , which is packed with practice tips and useful information, here .

Reply Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (pictured above with the Queen, photo courtesy of John Stillwell/PA Wire) is the present Master of the Queen’s Music and I wrote about the significance of this position in my last blog post . Born in 1934, Maxwell Davies has been at the forefront of British contemporary music for more than 50 years and has published over 200 works. Davies studied at the University of Manchester and at the Royal Manchester College of Music (amalgamated into the Royal Northern College of Music in 1973), where his fellow students included Harrison Birtwistle , Alexander Goehr , Elgar Howarth and John Ogdon . Together they formed New Music Manchester, a group committed to contemporary music. After graduating in 1956, he studied on an Italian government scholarship for a year with Goffredo Petrassi in Rome. In 1962, he secured a Harkness Fellowship at Princeton University , with the help of Aaron Copland and Benjamin Britten , where he studied with Roger Sessions , Milton Babbitt and Earl Kim .

He then moved to Australia, where he was Composer in Residence at the Elder Conservatorium of Music , University of Adelaide from 1965–66. On returning to the United Kingdom he moved to the Orkney Islands , initially to Hoy in 1971, and later to Sanday , where he lives with his partner Colin Parkinson. Orkney hosts the St Magnus Festival, an arts festival founded by Davies in 1977. He frequently uses it to premiere new works. Davies was Artistic Director of the Dartington International Summer School from 1979 to 1984 and has held a number of posts. From 1992 to 2002 he was associate conductor/composer with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and he has conducted a number of other prominent orchestras, including the Philharmonia , the Cleveland Orchestra , the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra . In 2000 Davies was Artist in Residence at the Barossa Music Festival when he presented some of his music theatre works and worked with students from the Barossa Spring Academy.

Davies is also Composer Laureate of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra , for whom he wrote a series of ten Strathclyde Concertos. Maxwell Davies has received a number of honorary degrees and was made a CBE in 1981 and knighted in 1987. Davies was one of the first classical composers to open a music download website, MaxOpus, (in 1996). Davies was known as an ‘enfant terrible’ of the 1960s, whose music frequently shocked audiences and critics. One of his overtly theatrical and shocking pieces was Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969), in which he utilised ‘musical parody’ by taking a canonical piece of music, Handel ‘s Messiah , and subverting it. Davies is a prolific composer who has written music in a variety of styles and idioms over his career, often combining completely different styles in one piece.

In 2004 he was appointed Master of the Queen’s Music (a post he will relinquish in 2014), in which role he seeks to raise the profile of music in Great Britain, as well as writing many works for Her Majesty the Queen and for royal occasions. Davies has written a long list of royal compositions, from 80th birthday celebrations to annual carols for the Chapel Royal. Now he’s marking the Diamond Jubilee with his Ninth Symphony, commissioned in honour of its regal patron by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and due to get its premiere in Liverpool on 9th June. It will also be performed at the Proms on 23rd August. I love this work, Farewell to Stromness, which is arranged for guitar in this performance. Share this: 5 Photo courtesy of jewelrynewsnetwork.blogspot.com As the Diamond Jubilee of our Queen is upon us, I couldn’t let this wonderful occasion pass without a celebratory blog post. It’s no secret that Queen Elizabth II loves music and so today I am delving into one of the most illustrious music positions in the country: Master of the Queen’s Music.

The post is roughly comparable to that of Poet Laureate . It is given to people eminent in the field of classical music ; they have almost always been composers ( George Frederick Anderson was one exception; he was a violinist who is not known to have ever composed any music). Duties are not clearly stated, though it is generally expected the holder of the post will write music to commemorate important royal events, such as coronations, birthdays, anniversaries, marriages and deaths, and to accompany other ceremonial occasions. The individual may also act as the Sovereign’s adviser in musical matters. The first appointed Master of the King’s Musick was Nicholas Lanier for whom the title was created in 1626 by Charles I of England . At that time the holder of the post took charge of the monarch’s private band, a responsibility which continued until the band was dissolved in 1901. The Master received an emolument. At the time of George III it was £200 a year for leading the band and composing birthday odes. If minuets were composed for court dances, an additional £100 was added. Additional payments were made for any music copying done for the court.

Two of the early Masters, Louis Grabu and Nicholas Staggins , were more courtiers than musicians, and composers such as Henry Purcell were called on for the music such as Purcell’s ‘Welcome Song to His Majesty at His Return from Newmarket’ (1682). During the reign of composer John Eccles as Master of the King’s Musick, George Frideric Handel supplied the Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713). In 1924 with the appointment of Edward Elgar , often considered the greatest British composer of his generation, the position became akin to that of Music Laureate. The title might now be given to composers or academics of proved attainment, signifying an endorsement of national achievements. Most of Elgar’s “royal music” was behind him by then – the Imperial March (1897), the first four Pomp and Circumstance Marches (1901–1907) and the Coronation Ode (1901). The Pageant of Empire was performed a few weeks after he was appointed Master, although composed before the appointment.

He did compose the fifth Pomp and Circumstance March (1930) and the Nursery Suite in 1931 dedicated to “their Royal Highnesses Princess Elizabeth and Margaret Rose “. Elgar’s successor, Sir Walford Davies , a popular broadcaster, was the first Master of the King’s Music to be well known to the public by this title. Other composers who have enjoyed the much coveted title include: William Boyce (1755-1760), John Stanley (1779-1786), Sir Arnold Bax (1942-1952), Sir Arthur Bliss (1953-1975), and Malcolm Williamson (1975-2003). The longest-serving Master of the King’s Music was John Eccles , who served for 35 years, from 1700 until his death in 1735. He is also the only one to have served four monarchs (King William III, Queen Anne, King George I and King George II). Three monarchs have had four different Masters during their reign: King George III, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II.

The monarchs who had the same Master of the King’s Music throughout their reign were: King Charles I ( Nicholas Lanier ), King James II ( Nicholas Staggins ), Queen Anne and King George I (John Eccles), King Edward VII (Sir Walter Parratt ) and King Edward VIII (Sir Walford Davies ). The current Master of the Queen’s Music is Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (1934 -), who was appointed in March 2004 for a ten-year period, unlike previous appointments, which were for life. Since his appointment, Sir Peter has composed a Christmas carol for The Queen which was recorded by the Chapels Royal, as well as a work to accompany the Poet Laureate’s poem to mark The Queen’s 80th birthday in 2006. He has also been greatly involved in the creation of The Queen’s Medal for Music in 2005, which will reward individuals who have made a significant contribution to the community at large, though music. Join me soon for more about Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Meanwhile enjoy all the Diamond Jubliee celebrations! Sir Peter Maxwell Davies became Master of the Queen’s Music in 2004 Photo courtesy of BBC Website Share this:

Question: Whom did Malcolm Williamson succeed as master of the Queens Music?
Answer: SIR ARTHUR BLISS